An easement parcel in the Village of Walbridge hasn’t been abused or overburdened by the village to the extent the easement should be extinguished, the Sixth District Court of Appeals ruled last week.

The decision upholds a decision in 2008 by the Wood County Common Pleas Court which rejected a request by local business owners Terry and Gloria Carroll to have the easement terminated.

The 35-foot by 180-foot easement runs perpendicular from N. Main Street and extends from the street to the parking lot of a health club facility the Carroll’s own at 417 Main.

The easement was created in 1984 by deed prior to the Carroll’s purchase of the property. The easement grants the village the right to enter and use land located alongside a shopping strip at the corner of Main and Breckman streets.

According to the decision, the focus of the Carroll’s argument was “…the use of the easement parcel by third parties – non-patrons of their health club who use the easement parcel to enter the health club parking lot from Main Street and to park their vehicles in the health club parking lot and by truck drivers, with business as the shopping center, who turn around in the parking lot.”

A century is a long time to keep a business afloat, but Reddish Sporting Goods

has managed to do just that.

Reddish Sporting Goods moved to 400 Main St. six years ago, but the family-owned business has been an East Toledo fixture since 1909.

"We opened up our shop in 1991," said Gary Reddish, who owns the business with his wife, Debra. "Previous to that, my father (Maxwell) had the sporting goods store. When he died in 1990, we put together our own shop and opened in 1991.

To its opponents, it represents a power grab by Ohio’s agri-business industry and an attempt to thwart efforts to improve treatment of animals on large factory farms.

To its supporters, it represents a comprehensive but flexible mechanism to address animal care issues.

“It” is Issue 2, a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that will be on the Nov. 3 ballot.

According to the ballot language it would:• Require the state to establish the Livestock Care Standards Board to prescribe standards for animal care and well-being “that endeavor to maintain food safety, encourage locally grown and raised food, and protect Ohio farms and families.”• Authorize the bi-partisan board of 13 members to consider factors such as agricultural best management practices, bio-security, disease prevention, animal morbidity and mortality data, food safety practices, and the protection of local, affordable food supplies for consumers when establishing standards.• Provide that the board is comprised of Ohio residents, including representatives of Ohio family farms, farming organizations, food safety experts, veterinarians, consumers, the dean of the agriculture department at an Ohio college, and a county humane society representative.• Authorize the Ohio department of agriculture to enforce the standards established by the board, subject to the authority of the state legislature.

Jerusalem Township trustees are considering alternatives to spending over $300,000 to continue getting patrolled by Lucas County deputy sheriffs.

Recently, Lucas County Commissioners decided to cut the sheriff’s budget next year as a result of the recession. Since the Ohio Revised Code does not require the county to provide police protection to township residents, Lucas County deputies will no longer provide patrols to eight townships in Lucas County unless townships pay for the service. The county expects to save $5.1 million as a result.

“The sheriff’s job is to keep the peace and run a jail,” Pete Gerken, president of the Lucas County Commissioners, said last week. “And in tight economic times, we certainly are going back to those core services that we can afford to deliver. Right now, we just can’t afford to pay for townships that don’t pay for their own police services. Everyone’s cutting their budgets, and this is just one of the unfortunate aspects of our budget.”

Rising costs, aging equipment, and increasing calls for service are behind the Allen-Clay Joint Fire District’s request for a replacement levy on the November ballot, says chief Bruce Moritz.

A public meeting to discuss the upcoming 5-mill levy will be held Oct. 8 at 6 p.m. at the district’s administration office, 3155 N. Genoa-Clay Center Rd.

The district – a consolidation of individual fire departments - was established in December, 1999 to service the villages of Clay Center and Genoa and Allen and Clay townships.

Voters approved a continuous levy to support the district but expenses have reached a point that the $585,000 in annual revenues generated by the levy don’t keep pace with rising expenses, said chief Moritz.

A replacement levy would be based on current real estate valuations instead of valuations from the year 2000, when the levy was approved by voters.